Men's Basketball

Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan will return to the USA Basketball sidelines as head coach of the 2009 USA Men's World University Games Team.

April 14, 2009

University of Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan will return to the USA Basketball sidelines as head coach of the 2009 USA Men's World University Games Team, USA Basketball announced today. The U.S. will look to capture the gold medal at the 24th World University Games, July 2-12 in Belgrade, Serbia. Ryan's selection was made by the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee, chaired by Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim.

"Anytime you're asked by USA Basketball to coach, especially with the way things are for USA Basketball with our position in the world, the fact that we won the Olympics again, it's quite an honor," said Ryan. "I was a Sergeant in the Army and this is another way of representing your country. I was an assistant in '95 when Lon Kruger was the head coach and we won the gold in Fukuoka, Japan. I'm looking forward to doing it again. The USA is always the team to go after and the nice thing about this is that I'm not worried about the pressure. There's always pressure when you coach USA Basketball, but it's something I'm looking forward to.

"I was talking with Stephen Curry recently and he said `coach, I was in Serbia two years ago.' He told me how well they were treated and what a great experience he had and I'm really excited about this opportunity to go to Serbia representing USA Basketball."

The World University Games are held every other year and are organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).

Trials for the USA World University Games Team featuring approximately 20 U.S. hopefuls will be held June 16-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Players eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born between Jan. 1, 1985 and Dec. 31, 1991, who are currently enrolled as a full-time collegiate student with remaining eligibility for the 2009-10 school year. Following the selection of finalists, the Americans will continue to train June 19-28 in Colorado Springs, Colo. before departing for Serbia.

The United States, which has claimed a medal in every World University Games since beginning play in 1965, has captured a record 13 gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals in the 18 WUGs in which a USA Basketball squad has competed. The U.S., which owns a 125-7 won-loss record in World University Games play, captured six of the first seven gold medals awarded in World University Games competition and strung together six consecutive gold medals from 1989 through 1999. In 2001 the USA fell to host China, which featured half of its 2000 Olympic team, including Yao Ming, Menk Batere and Wang ZhiZhi, by a single point in the semifinal and finished with the bronze. The next and most recent USA team to compete at the WUGs was in 2005 when the U.S. again captured the gold medal.

This summer marks Ryan's third USA Basketball coaching assignment, his first as a head coach. Previously, Ryan served as an assistant coach to Lon Kruger and the 1995 USA World University Games Team that featured future Olympians in Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson and Kerry Kittles. The talent-stocked team rolled through its opponents en route to a 7-0 record and the gold medal. He was also an assistant for the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival North Team that captured gold with a 4-0 mark.

During his eight seasons (2001-02 to present) at Wisconsin, Ryan has guided the Badgers to a 193-73 record for a 72.6 winning percentage. Wisconsin has competed in the NCAA Tournament in each season with Ryan at the helm, advancing as far as the 2003 and 2008 Sweet Sixteen and the 2005 Elite Eight, and captured at least a share of three (2002, 2003, 2008) Big Ten Conference regular season titles and a pair (2004, 2008) of Big Ten Tournament crowns. Additionally, Ryan's Badger teams have won no less than 20 games in six of his eight years in Madison and reached the 30-win mark twice.

Ryan's most recent squad finished the 2008-09 season with a 20-13 mark and advanced to the 2009 NCAA Tournament second round. At the end of the year Ryan was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) with its 2009 Oustanding Service Award, which is given to coaches whose actions inside and outside the lines of coaching have distinguished them as valuable members of their communities.

Head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for 15 years (1984-85 through 1998-99), Ryan guided the Pioneers to a 353-76 mark for a stunning 82.3 winning percentage. During his span in Platteville, Ryan posted two undefeated seasons, captured four NCAA Division III national championships and eight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.

His first DIII national championship came in 1991 with a 28-3 mark and four years later Ryan posted his first undefeated record with a 31-0 run to the `95 national crown. His final two years in Platteville were punctuated by a pair of NCAA titles as he ran the table for a 30-0 slate and the 1997 crown and finished his stint at the school with the 1999 NCAA championship and a 30-2 record.

From UW-Platteville, Ryan spent two seasons (1999-2000 and 2000-01) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before stepping into his current role at Wisconsin.

Ryan's exploits on the sidelines have not gone unnoticed. Named the 1991 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division III Coach of the Year, Ryan also earned the 2002 and 2003 Big Ten Coach of the Year awards, and six Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Coach of the Year honors. He was also presented with the 2004 NABC Guardians of the Game Award for Service, earned the 2007 Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award, the 2007 Rupp Cup as National Coach of the Year and in 2008 was named the Jim Phelan Coach of the Year.